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Apache shares could climb 20%, according to bulls, Barron's saysBulls see Apache shares climbing 20% if the company continues with its plan to increase energy production and keep costs down, Barron's contends in a feature article. Reference Link

Apache reports results from discoveries in Egypt's western desertApache reported strong appraisal- and development-drilling results from Egypt following the previously announced discovery of two new oil fields in the Western Desert. The initial discoveries were announced with the fourth quarter 2014 results on Feb. 12, 2015. Development leases were approved by the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation and Ministry of Petroleum in record time, taking only 13 days from submission of the development plan for Berenice, and only six days for Ptah. The Berenice and Ptah fields are located in the Faghur Basin along the same fault trend in the Khalda Offset Concession. Exploration and drilling efforts are targeting rock from both the Mesozoic and deeper Paleozoic eras. These targets are a PRIMARY focus for Apache Egypt and have proven successful in this area with oil and gas discoveries made at the nearby Shu-1X, Apries-1X, Bat-1X and Geb-1X wells, although Ptah is the largest new field found in the play thus far. Five wells, including the discovery wells, have been completed to date by Khalda Petroleum Company, Apache's joint-venture company with EGPC. All five wells are producing without the need for fracture stimulation at a combined rate of more than 13,600 barrels of oil per day with first production starting in November 2014. The wells have produced approximately 1 million barrels of oil to date. Apache has invested $14 million to install production facilities and plans to invest another $35 million to handle the forecasted production increase. The Berenice field started producing light oil from the Cretaceous-aged Alam El Buieb formations in November 2014. Three wells are currently producing more than 9,500 bbl/d from a 700-acre drainage area with pay zones that range between 38 feet and 142 feet. The Ptah field started producing light oil from the Paleozoic-aged Shiffah Formation in December 2014. This field also has substantial target zones logged in the AEB-3D/-3E formations that have yet to be tested. In the Shiffah, the field discovery well is currently producing 2,350 bbl/d and a second well started production in March 2015 at a rate of 2,000 bbl/d.